Thursday, April 14, 2011

Dan F. Hicks at the Bull Run

Picked up Sarah at the train after work on Wednesday and drove out to the Bull Run, where we had six seats at the table right in front of the mike with Michelle, Scott, Phil, and Ann. They had some rookie waiters and everything was chaos, but we got beers finally and then they brought our dinner order before the people who were there first. Whatever, we were there to see 70 year-old Dan Hicks.

Dan came on late ... probably the management tried to slow him down even more (not everyone had been served) and he finally decided that he was going on or else he'd fall asleep. He had The Lickettes he's been performing with for years (Roberta Donnay and Daria), a jazzy, experienced, incredibly tonal bass player we hadn't seen before (Paul Smith) who played most of the evening with his eyes closed (try that!), and a newbie but incredibly talented violin player (Benito Cortez) whom Dan kept encouraging to stretch out another measure or four.

They played Along Comes a Viper, He Don't Care (which had the people not used to Dan Hicks scratching their heads), I Scare Myself, Subterranean H.B., Tom Waits' 'The Piano Has Been Drinking', and lots of other stuff from all time. Kate and Mager were a few tables behind us and Kate moved up front for a song after the people in those seats were scared off by a bit of Hicks gruffness (I almost got him to laugh once). While Kate was up front they played Sweetheart from the Last Train to Hicksville record, with Daria soloing magnificently, and we were all in seventh heaven.

They finished their set with Payday Blues with people singing along as best they could, then the band came out for an encore and the crowd insisted they play How Can I Miss You? (when the set list/cheat sheet Dan had on the floor right between me and him listed "Breeze!!" as their scripted encore). After it was all done Kate grabbed the set list, we all stood around and gawked about how incredible music can be, and then we went home to prepare for work the next day (and then payday on Friday ... perhaps a little place I can sit and think!).